Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Psalm 19

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

"Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

This is the first scripture I've chosen to memorize for a few reasons. I'm an English major and I took a Bible as Literature class because I figured it would be totally easy. I didn't think I would have learned so much! For instance, Psalm 19 is pretty much as good a poem as you can write. It maintains its poetic structure even after being translated into English, and in some places, it even keeps its rhyme scheme. Amazing! The other reason I'm memorizing this text first is because it is a reminder that God's Word is 100% perfect, no matter what. Even when I don't feel like doing what God says, or I don't think that sin is a big deal, God's Word stands firm. There's no room for discussion or negotiation. Sometimes I forget that.

Rote memorization is pretty easy for me, but I don't want to memorize scriptures for the sake of having the verses in my head. I'm doing this so that when things start getting real, and I don't have a physical Bible to draw strength from, I can rely on the Word that I've hidden in my heart.

Plus it's harder to cuss people out in my mind when I'm repeating Bible verses to myself all day =)